Copy holder



N. DODDS .lime 20, 1939.

COPY HOLDER Original Filed Sept. 2 2, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l N. DODDS COPY HOLDER June 2o, 1939.

Original Filed Sept. 22, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 20, l 4 v y t UNITED STATES PAT-ENT OFFICE* Niuent 'vnlm n. o. Appueeuen september 2z. 1934. sei-lei No. 145.134

. yRenewed September 10,1988

n calme. (cl. izo-sz) This invention relates to -copyholders, -more wall is detachably secured in place by a screw 33 particularly to the copyholder o! my Patent No. passing upwardly through a countersunk opening 1,939,671, granted December 19, 1933, forhold- 34 in the bottom wall 23 andengagins a screw- 'ing a sheet of manuscript, or typewriting, ori threadedsocket'in aboss 35 depending from the Y f, 5 printed matter to be copied and for moving the underside of the front wall. The screw is pref- 5 sheet intermittently, a line at 'a time, so as to erably such that it can be engaged'and turned bring the lines successively to a predetermined by the edge of a small coin, as screw drivers are 'level or position of vision for the copyist. frequently vunavailable in oilices and at other The general object of the present invention is places where copyholders may be used. Removal l to improve the construction shown in'said pat-y of the screw 33 releases the front wall and peri0 e'nt, and the improvements constituting the inmits removal thereof to ailord easy access to vvention are illustrated in the accompanying draw'- the mechanism within the casing. ings and will be readily understood from the The front-wall of the casing is so shaped as to following detailed description in conjunction' with constitute a hollow or tubular' paper retainer 40 1; said. drawings, whereinand an upright reversely curved paper guiding 16 Fig. 1 is a perspective view; extension ormember 4l of said retainer. The re-y Fig. 2 is a. central vertical sectional view; tainer 40 is open at both ends to accommodate Fig. 3 is a perspective view similar to Fig. l, paper which may be of a'width exceeding that butA with the front portion of the copyholder reof the retainer (the entire copyholder preferably 90 moved to shown the mechanism within; being relatively narrow) and has an opening 42 20 Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional views on a somelengthwise thereof -through which sheets of copy what larger scale, a (such as the sheet a: shown in dotten lines' in Fig. 4 being a horizontal section on line 4-4 Figs. 1 and 2 and in full lines in Fig. 4) maybe of Fig. 2 and l introduced into land spirally wound within the ..5 Fig. 5 being'a vertical section on line 5--5 of retainer and then withdrawn or uncoiied there- 25 Fig. 2; from in the process of copying. As the sheet Figs. 6 and 7 are detail sectional views on lines of paper is withdrawn from the retainer through 6--6 and 11 respectively of Fig. 2; said opening 42 by feeding mechanism herein- Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of one of the after described, said sheet moves upwardly along parts; y andin front of, and is guided by, the extension. so'

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view in elevation from member 4l which faces toward the front of the the right of Fig. 6; and copyholder, and the sheet is thus presented and Fig. 10 is a detail view in vertical section. f supported in an approximately upright lposition Ihe casing which encloses working parts of the and in a manner to be readily visible to the feeding mechanism is made of sheet metal, prefcopyist. 1 3g;

erably sheet steel. AIts vconstruction includes a Four rubber buttons 43A projecting from the bottom-wa1l 20 having across its forward edge an -under face of the bottomwall 20, one near each upright but rearwardly inclined flange 2i with corner thereof, constitute noise deadening supslots or notchesy 22 and 23 therein, two side walls ports or feet for'the apparatus. The inner faces 24 and 25, and a back wall 26 having a flange of the front wall; of back wall 26 and of bottom 40 21 along each side edge thereof, said flanges bewall 2li;` are covered by noise deadening'material a ing secured by rivets to the side walls 24 and 25, 44, such as sheetfelt, secured in place by suitrespectivelv The bottom wall 20 and its upright able adhesive or cement.

flange 2| and the side walls 24 and 25, may be in As shown, the front wall of the casing is made tegrally formed (as shown inthe drawings) from of twov pieces of sheet metal (peferably sheet 45A a single blank o f sheet steel. The front wall of steel) having overlapping edges 'secured together the casing nts closely against the curved upper by rivets,45, the uppermost of said 'edges being edges of the side walls. 24 and 25, also against 1 extended beyond the riveted joint and bent to the upper edge'of ange 2l, and also against the constitute an elongated hinge knuckle 46; .50 is upper edge of back wall 26, the latter edge hava movable presser member having at its lower 50 A ing therein notches 29, 30 engaged by 11185 3| and edge two spaced hinge knuckles 5I and 52 posi- 32 respectively on the iront wall, whereby the tioned at opposite ends respectively of the hinge latter is accurately positioned and held in place knuckle 46 and in alinement therewith. A hinge at its upper end against sidewise shifting in repin 53 passes through all three knuckles and is 55 lation to the other walls ofthe casing. The front headed' at both endsl whereby it is secured to and 55 turns with the presser member 50. Said pin bears against an elongated anti-friction roller or bar M freely rotatable within the hinge knuckle 4B (see Figs. 2 and 7). When the hinge pin 53 turns 5 with movement of the member 50, said pin rotates the anti-friction roller or bar 54. Presser member 50 is preferably a drop forging of bronze and is made of suilicient weight, or weighted, so

that when it is swung to its closed or active position bridging the opening 42, as shown in Fig. 1

and in full lines inFlg. 2, it engages the sheet a:

and acts by gravity to press said sheet into gripping and feeding engagement with rubber rings or tires of the paper feeding mechanism. When member 50 is in its said closed or active position,

its upper edge also serves as an eye-guide to the lines of writing on sheet x, one line after another as the sheet is fed upward step by step, or space by space, by the feeding mechanism about to be described. When it becomes desirable to introduce a sheet of copy into the paper retainer 4B through the opening 42, the movable member 5l! is swung on the hinge at its lower edge to its open position in which it does not bridge said opening, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, Where it rests against a rubber bumper 55 on the paper retainer 40.

Referring now to the paper feeding mechanism within the casing-60 is the feed roller preferably made from brass tubing and so shaped as to provide around the middle thereof and integral therewith outwardly projecting ratchet teeth 6l,

constituting in effect a ratchet wheel midway between the ends of the roller. Roller 6D is also shaped to provide around each end thereof a pair of spaced outwardly projecting corrugations or ridges 62 with circumferential grooves or channels 63 and 54, between the pairs of ridges respectively. At their inner edges the ratchet teeth project into the interior of the tubular roller as clearly shown in Figs. 2, #t and 5.

The feeding of the paper sheet is effected by means of feed rings E5, 66, of rubber or other suitable material, seated in the grooves E3, 64, re-

spectively. Said feed rings or members 65, 6B, protrude slightly through suitable apertures 68, 69, respectively, in the part tl of the front wall of the casing,l so that the sheet a: is pressed against the peripheries of said protruding portions of the feed rings by the movable member 50 the weight of which is determined so as to exert the proper degree of pressure for emcient operation. As will be obvious, the rubber feed rings B5, 66, can be readily removed when worn and replaced at slight expense. Before being put in place said rings are of less internal diameter than the diameterof the bottom of the grooves 63, 64, and the rings are stretched in putting them in place in said grooves and are retained therein by their own tension.

'I0 is a tubular axle also preferably made of brass tubing) passing through tubular feed roller 60 and on which the latter is supported midway between its ends by the engagement of the inwardly projecting edges of the ratchet teeth 6| with the outer surface of said axle 10, as shown in Figs. 2, 4' and 5. Beyond the teeth in both directions, the interior diameter of the tubular feed roller 60 is substantially larger than the exterior diameter of the axle 10, thus providing limited .clearance such as to permit slight axial tilting of the roller on the axle, the purpose of which will be explained hereafter. Annular metallic bands or collars Il 1| are riveted on the opposite ends respectively of the axle 'l0 where Said ends project beyond the roller 60, thus securing the roller on the axle so that these two parts may be handled as a unit and as auch put in and withdrawn from operative position in the mechanism. At the right hand side of the machine said opera- 5 tive positionis determined by a plate 72 and a spring arm 13. Said plate 'I2 is riveted to the inner face of the upper end of the side wall 25 of the casing and has a concave forward edge which, in conjunction with the spring arm 13, constitute 10 a seat adapted to be engaged by the collar Il at -the right hand end of axle 10, as clearly shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 10. Spring arm 15 extends forward from and is an integral part of a plate 14 which is secured by screw bolts to the inner face 15 of the back wall 26 of the machine casing with the felt lining 44 on said wall interposed.

'I'he operative position of the roller axle unit at the left hand side of the machine is determined by a similar plate 'l2 riveted to the side wall 26, 20 and a similar spring arm 'i3 extending forward from said plate 7H, these parts also providing a seat adapted to be engaged by the collars 'H at the left hand end of the axle, as shown in Fig. 5.

The feed roiier and axle unit is shown in its 25 operative position in Figs. 2-5, with the ends thereof held in their seats in the plates l2, l2, by an upward bend i5 on each of the spring arms 73. Said unit may be readily released and removed from the machine, for replacement of the 30 rubber feed rings $5, 66, or for other purpose, by pressing the spring arms downward in the manner indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 10. In replacing the unit the collars ll, 'H at the ends thereof are engaged with the outer ends-of the 35 spring arms i3, 73, respectively and the unit is then forced rearward until bothV collars pass the upwards bends l5 of the spring arms 'i3 and nd their seats at the rear of said bend.

As most clearly shown in the vertical section, 40 Fig. 5, the width of the spring arms 73 is such that they extend beneath the extreme ends of the tubular roller t6 in a manner to prevent appreciable axial tilting of said roller in relation to the axle i0 in a vertical plane, as such tilting 45 would cause the feed rings to feed the sheet of copy in a slanting or crooked direction. On the other hand, as shown in the horizontal section of Fig. 4, the feed roller @Il is free to shift its position in a horizontal plane so that its axis 50 may be slightly out of alinement with that of the axle l0. For example, let the dotted line a-a'in said gure represent the axis of axle 10. With the feed roller 60 supported on the axle ifi by the somewhat free engagement with the 55 latter of the inwardly projecting portions of the ratchet teeth on the roller 60, the clearance between the interior surface of the tubular roller B0 and the outer surface of the axle 70 at both sides of said teeth, is such as to permitslight 60 shifting of the axis of the feed roller either in the direction of the dotted line b b or in the direction of the dotted line O-C, Fig. 4.

The purpose of this freedom of movement of the feed roller 60 in an approximately horizontal 65 plane in relation to the axle, is to enable said roller to automatically shift or accommodate its position to the pressure exerted by the movable member 50 in pressing the sheet of copy .'12 against the two feed rings 65 and S6 of the feed roller 70 and to thereby automatically equalize the grip and feeding action of said two rings upon the sheet of paper.

In other words, the feed-roller is automatically self-positioning by the pressure thereon of the 75 presser-member to equalize the pressure and grip upon the sheet at thel two feed rings and thus insure straight feeding of the sheet and avoidv crooked feeding. This is a particularly important feature of the construction of thev present invention.

Referring now to the means for rotating the feed roller on its axle and particularly to the illustration thereof in Figs. 2 and 3-80 is a pawl,

or feed dog preferably made of a flat `strip of steel bent rearwardly at its upper end for engagement with the 'ratchet teeth 8| and at its lower end hinged at 8| to the end of an arm 82 which extends rearwardly from and is part of a rock plate or frame 88. Said frame is supported by and rocks upon a pivot -rod or shaft 84 which extends across the interior of the casing with its ends secured in openings in side walls 2l and 25 respectively. Frame 88 has two spaced parallel arms 85 and 88 which extend forwardly through the slots 22 and 28 respectively in the upright flange 2| and are connected by 'a horizontal space bar or key 81 extending transversely across the-front of the machine. The frame 88, its arms 82, 85 and 88 an'd the space bar 81, are preferably integrally formed from a single piece of sheet steel. A rubber bumper 88 is secured inan' opening through frame 88 and by itsA engagement with the feit lining M on the bottom pawl downwardwith its point traveling backward wall of the casing determines the limit of the downward movement of said frame at its rear end as well as the limit of the upward movement of the space key `81. Al coiled spring '88, connected at its lower end to a hook 88 on plate 14 and at its upper end to an eyeletv 8| at the upper end of pawl A88, exerts its pressure "to pull said pawl and the rear end of the rock frame 83 downward until stopped by bumper 88 and to resist upward movement thereof. Depression of the space key 81 by the operator or copyist rocks the frame 88 on its pivot rod 84 to move the rear end thereof and the pawl 80 upward and ,causing the pawl by its .engagement with one of the ratchet teeth 8| to -rotate the feed roller. Immediately the riperator releases the space key.81 the spring -88 reacts to draw the adjusted-to different positions. A short shaft 94,-

Figs. 2, -3 and 6, is rotatably mounted in an opening through side wall of -the casing and at its outer end carries a knurled head 85 and a circular dial or disk 88, the latter having a fiat sided opening through which a at sided portion of the shaft engages (see dotted lines in-Fig. 9)

so that the disk turns with the shaft. Inside the casing the shaft 8| passes through the center of aspring friction member 81 having three radiating arms Yand then through a flat sided1open ing in the cam 93 whereby the cam is fixed to the shaft to rotatetherewith. A groove around the 'inner end lof the shaft is engaged by` a split spring snap ring 98 which-locks the cam on" the shaft, with the spring frictionfmember -81 somewhat flattened and hence under tension. The friction of member 91. against the inner face of' ena wsu 2s orig. s) and the frictionof am 84 against the outer face of said wall is suiiicient to hold the shaft and cam in any position to` which they are rotated or set. v"

The ratchet teeth'8l on the feed 'roller are preferably so proportioned that one tooth corresponds to movement of the copy sheet one space of typewriting (three sixteenths of aninch). two teeth to two spaces of typewriting and three teeth to three spaces of typewriting. Furthermore the cam 98 and its position on the shaft 94 are preferably such that when the numeral 3 on thev dial 96 stands oppositethe pointer (which is the position-shown in Flgs..3 y6 and 9)', each depression of space key 81 will move the copy sheet three spaces; with the dialV numeral 2 opposite the. pointer each feed movement will be two spaces; and with the dial numeral 1 opposite the pointer each feed movement will be one space. As thus appears, the feeding mechanism may be adjusted or set in accordance with the spacing of the lines on the sheet of copy, to feed the sheet one, two or three spaces for each actuation of the space key.

What is Lclaimed 4as new is:

1. In a copy holder the combination of a hollow tubular paper retainer for receiving a sheet -of copy and having an exit opening extending lengthwise thereof and through which said sheet may be withdrawn; an upwardlydisposed extension member facing toward the frontv of the holder and positioned to guide the, sheet upwardly and in front thereof as said sheet is withdrawnr from the retainer; a presser member adapted to be swung either to a closed active position in which it bridges the exit slot of the retainer and presses the sheet of copy towardsaid extension member, or -to an open position; and paper feeding means vfor moving the sheet upward out of the retainer and infront of said extension member, said means including spaced rotatable vfeed members projecting forwardly through said extension member for engagement 'with the sheet opposite the engagement thereof by thepresser member and said feed members being mounted to be movable in response to the pressure of said presser member to approximately equalize the pressure upon the sheet between each feed member and said presser member.

2. In a copy holder the combination of a hollow tubular paper retainerfor receiving a sheet of copy and having an Aexit opening extending lengthwise thereof and through which said sheet may be withdrawn; an upwardly disposed extension member facing toward the front of the holder and positioned to guide the sheet upwardf ly and in front thereof as said sheet is. withdrawn fromthe retainer; a presser member adapted to be swung either to a closed active position in whichl it bridges the exit slot of the'retainer and vpresses the sheettoward said extension member,

or to an open position;` and paper feeding means for moving the sheet upward out of the retainer and in front of said extension member, said means including a feed roller having spaced feed rings projecting forwardly through said extension member for engagement with the sheet op- .posite the engagementv of the presser member therewith, said feed roller being mounted for movement in response to the pressure of -said presser member toapproximately equalize the ,pressure upon the sheet between each feed member and said presser member. I

3. In a copy holder the combination of a hollow tubular paper retainer for receiving a sheet of copy and having an exit opening extending lengthwise thereof and through which said sheet may be withdrawn; an upwardly disposed extension 'member facing toward the front of the holder and positioned to guide the sheet upwardly and in front thereof as said sheet is withdrawn from the retainer; a presser member adapted to be swung either to a closed active position in which it bridges the exit slot of the retainer and presses the sheet toward said extension member, or to an' open position; and paper feeding means for moving the sheet upward out of the retainer and in front' of said extension member, said means including a feed roller having spaced feed rings projecting forwardly through said extension member for engagement with the sheet opposite 'the engagement of the presser member therewith, said feed roller being mounted for movement in response to the pressure of said presser member to approximately equalize the pressure upon the sheet between each feed member and said presser member, a supporting axle upon which said feed roller is rotatably mounted, and a key vand connections therefrom tovrotate said roller upon actuation of said key. n

4. In a copyholder the combination of a paper retainer for a sheet of copy; a forwardly facing upright member positioned to guide the sheet upwardly and in front thereof as the sheet is withdrawn from said retainer; spaced rotatable feed members vprojecting through said upright member into engagement with the rear side of said sheet; a presser member engaging the forward side of said sheet and pressing the same into engagement with said feed members; a feed roller carrying said feed members; means movably supporting said feed roller to enable said feed members to automatically position themselves in response to the pressure of said pressermember and thereby to approximately equalize the feeding of the paper by each feed member and' the cooperating presser member; and key actuated means for rotating said feed roller and its feed members to feed the sheet upon each actuation of the key.

5. In a copyholder the combination of a presser member for engaging one side of a sheet of copy; spaced rotatable feed members engaging the other side of said sheet in opposition to the engagement thereof by said presser member; a feed roller carrying said spaced feed members; a'naxle on which said feed roller is supported with free dom of movement permitting said feed members to automatically position themselves to equalize the pressure upon the paper between each feed member and the cooperating pressure member; and key actuated means for rotating the feed roller and its feed members to feed the sheet. f

6. In a copyholder'the combination of a feed roller; an axle on which said roller is rotatable, said axle extending through and at each end projecting from the end of said roller; a casing or framework and a seat thereon for each projecting end of said axle; and a spring arm for holding each end of the axle in its seat.

7. In a copyholder the combination of a casing; a feed roller mounted therein; a rocking frame fulcrumed in the casing near the bottom thereof4 and of a width approximating the interior width of said casing; a space key carried by and for rocking said frame and located at the front of the copyholder; and a pawl carried by said frame and engaging ratchet teeth carried by said feed roller.

8. In a copyholder the combination of spaced rotatable feed members engaging the rearwardy side of a sheetV of copy; a presser member engagingthe forward side of said sheet and pressing the sheet against said feed members; means rotatably supporting said feed members with freedom of movement whereby they are automatically self-positioning in relation to and by the pressure of said cooperating presser member to approxil .mately equalize the pressure upon the sheet between each feed member and the presser member; and key actuated means for importing rotating feed movements to the feed members.

9. In copyholder the combination with a presser means engaging one side of `'a sheet of A copy and paper feeding means engaging the other side of said sheet, said presser means and feeding means being relatively movable to approximately equalize the pressure and grip upon the sheet at different points along the width of said sheet where it is engaged between said presser means and feeding means. .y

10. In a copyholder, the combination of presser-means for engaging one side of a sheet of copy and paper-feeding means including two .of copy and paper-feeding means including two rotatable feed members engaging the other side rotatable feed members engaging the other side of said sheet opposite the engagement thereof by 

